Former INDECOM investigator says witness signed statement he now claims is inaccurate

Mollie Plummer, a former senior investigator at the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) who probed the Mario Deane case, today told the Westmoreland Circuit Court that one of Deane's fellow inmates, who testified that errors were made in his witness statement, signed the statement as true in 2014.

The inmate had testified earlier in the trial of Corporal Elaine Stewart and constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, who are charged in relation to Deane's death, that elements of his statement about what he witnessed when Deane was beaten at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in St James on August 3, 2014 were not accurate, and that the INDECOM officer who recorded his statement had misinterpreted what he said at the time.

But under cross-examination from defence attorney Martyn Thomas today, Plummer testified that in taking the inmate's statement on August 7, 2014, she gave him an opportunity to correct any mistakes that may have been made, according to standard protocol, and that he signed all seven pages of the statement.

Plummer also testified that she arranged to collect exhibits related to the cell where Deane was beaten, including photographs that were taken of the cell itself.

However, she said she could not recall whether she collected a pair of shoes that were said to belong to Deane. She also said she could not recall seeing surveillance cameras at the cell block when she went there.

Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, arising from Deane's death on August 6, 2014, three days after he was beaten while in custody for possession of a ganja spliff.

Stewart is also charged with perverting the course of justice, under allegations that she ordered the cleaning of the cell where Deane was beaten, prior to the arrival of INDECOM investigators.

- Christopher Thomas

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